Brace yourself because Season Two of Peacock’s YA thriller finds the Murder Club teens braving a bevy of new twists, secrets, and life-and-death circumstances. Season One introduced us to the modern-day Breakfast Club by way of a twisted Riverdale with a splash of Gossip Girl—five high schoolers go into detention, and only four come out alive. Bronwyn (Marianly Tejada), Nate (Cooper van Grootel), Addy (Annalisa Cochrane), and Cooper (Chibuikem Uche) all became suspects in Simon’s (Mark McKenna) death, setting up a season where they scratched their noggins over the identity of mysterious texter Simon Says. In the end, Addy’s beau Jake (Barrett Carnahan) turned out to be the bad guy. Then he became toast in a forest tussle gone horribly wrong.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Now what?

Well, the stars of One Of Us Is Lying chat up Season Two with MovieWeb ahead of its October 20 release. Bottom line: things get even more grim for the gang.

Bolder, Bigger, More Shocking in Season Two

“It was very shocking for me to see right off the bat that Bronwyn is doing something you just wouldn’t expect her to do,” Tejada said of her character, who’s dubbed “the brains” in the show. For van Grootel, coming into Season Two was filled with surprises. As Nate (the “criminal”), he was intrigued with where series creator Erica Saleh would take the show.

“We didn’t really get the scripts until the first table read a couple of weeks before we started filming,” he said. “We read Episode One and Two, and it was very exciting to see what was unfolding for our characters. In Season Two, we were veering off from the original book [by Karen M. McManus]. We’re creating our own little universe here. But we can expect more camaraderie and trust between the group as they navigate this sort of cat-and-mouse game where they’ve been perverted by Simon Says, and have to kind of do as ‘Simon Says.’”

Tejada noted that viewers will be surprised by where things head next for the Murder Club. “You get attached to the characters, and you’re like, ‘No, there’s no way that this could be happening.’ But that’s the journey of the actor—‘How can this character I’ve kind of co-created with everyone else and have this transition smoothly?’ I think it came out beautifully. We made for some great starting points, even for Bronwyn, because in the beginning, Nate is very shocked to see Bronwyn operate from this new place, and then they kind of work through things.”

To be sure, audiences are resonating with something. One Of Us Is Lying quickly became a hit after its launch. So, what’s the allure? Friendship? Thrills? Teamwork under the most pressing circumstances?

“I think it’s a great horror story,” van Grootel said of the show’s appeal. “I think all the characters are heroes in their own right. That’s exciting for people to relate to even under such high stake’s situations. Obviously, people don’t go through [the things in the show], but I think it’s a great way of telling a story about people going through the trials and tribulations of high school and dealing with the confusion of being a teenager and everything that comes with that.”

Tejada’s take: “The show has a very diverse cast, but the writing offers different archetypes that remind you of your high school experience and those dynamics we’re all are so familiar with, whether it’s through experience or through films we grew up watching.

“I also think the theme of friendship is very central to the story,” she added. “In Season Two, working together is always going to be the best the characters can do.”

Related: Exclusive: One Of Us Is Lying Creator Erica Saleh Says Season Two Gets a Little Darker

Can These Teens Keep Their Secret Hidden?

Peacock

Annalisa Cochrane plays Addy in the show. She was bright-eyed, (somewhat) happy, and dating Jake when viewers first met the character. Now, not so much. Cochrane admitted that she was “completely surprised” at how things unfolded for her character. “I know there had been a lot of talk about ending Season One in certain ways. So, when things happened in Season Two, there was a lot of excitement. And it was good for me as an actor to be able to play, but it had its challenges.”

She added: “It’s fun being able to act in a show like this, where there’s such high stakes and crazy things happening. This season is really cool because we definitely go bigger. Last season, all the secrets were very personal secrets, which have stakes of their own, but I think this season, it’s a real thing they did, and a real thing they now have to hide. And it could completely ruin all their lives if anybody finds out. There’s a lot they must protect.”

In the show, Jess McLeod played a stellar version of a punk rebel outsider (Janae), who wasn’t too fond of her “fake” classmates at Bayview High. Things, of course, have shifted and while Janae is still her own gal, she’s become a vital component of the Murder Club and how things unfold in Season Two.

“This season, we really lean into the kind of campiness of the show,” she said. “I love it to be, like, big and ridiculous. Episode Four truly tickles me. But overall, last season, all the secrets were very personal secrets, which had stakes of their own. Now, it’s become a real thing the characters did, and a real thing they now must hide. And it could completely ruin all their lives if anybody finds out. There’s a lot they have to protect in Season Two.”

That would be keeping what happened to Jake a secret.

“What I’d love for people to take away from Season Two—especially in terms of Nate’s character—is that you’re not alone in this world,” said Chibuikem Uche—In the show, Nate’s a revered high school athlete was hasn’t fully come out. “I’d love for people to know that if you’re ever really struggling with something, that there’s always people to lean on—that you can always reach out for help. Nate’s very much a lone wolf and tries to do things on his own. But the truth will set you free. it’s very liberating.”

Anyway way you spin it—or taint it, shoot it, or toss it off a boat—One Of Us Is Lying is heading into new territory. Hang on.

“Obviously something massive happened at the end of Season One,” Cochrane summed it up. “But now it’s like these kids have a big giant thing they must cover up and deal with, and move forward. What’s definitely at stake is their lives—their livelihood.”

Season Two of One Of Us Is Lying streams on Peacock on October 22, 2022.